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Hernando Today

7th-Grader Tests Positive For Meningitis

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: February 7, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - A seventh-grade student at West Hernando Middle School has tested positive for bacterial meningitis, health officials announced Friday.

The child is being treated for Neisseria meningitis, and family members and other close personal contacts have been given preventative medication so they don't become ill, Hernando County Health Department spokeswoman Ann-Gayl Ellis said.

The school district has notified parents of West Hernando students through phone calls and letters, said Jim Knight, director of student services. The information has also been posted on the school district's Web site.

Parents throughout the district shouldn't panic, Ellis said.

She emphasized this type of meningitis is spread through intimate contact such as kissing or eating and drinking after an infected person. It rarely survives outside the body for more than a few minutes.
Symptoms of bacterial meningitis include intense headache, fever, nausea and stiff neck, loss of appetite, progressive drowsiness, vomiting and rashes. Severe cases can cause delirium or coma.

Anyone experiencing these symptoms should see a doctor, Ellis said.

For more information on meningitis, call the Hernando County Health Department at 352-540-6800, Ext. 82197, or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at www.cdc.gov.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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